arXiv subjects

Devin Lange

Publications and source records attributed to Devin Lange.

7 recordsLinked to original sources

arXiv2026

Agentic Authoring of Interactive Multiview Visualizations in Genomics

Diverse genomics data, scientific questions, and analysis tasks typically demand highly specialized visualizations. Therefore, users often must customize or author new ones tailored to their data. Existing tools are usually either limited in customization or require substantial learning or programming, and even expressive tools assume visualization expertise many users lack. Agentic and large language model (LLM) approaches are increasingly applied to complex scientific tasks, including visualization. Natural-language conversational interfaces offer a promising path to democratizing the authoring of complex visualizations. In the context of genomics, these approaches face additional challenges: genomics visualizations typically integrate heterogeneous data types and are composed of multiple linked interactive views. These challenges motivate more structured LLM-based schemes. We first characterize where vanilla LLM generation succeeds and fails for genomics visualization, identifying eight quality dimensions. We then compare six schemes--direct generation, a fixed pipeline, and four agentic configurations varying in the number of specialist agents and the presence of a reviewer--across 159 cases spanning three levels of query ambiguity and specification complexity. All schemes use the Gosling visualization grammar as structured output. Agentic iteration substantially improves perceived quality over both baselines, while more complex agent architectures yield no additional benefit. We discuss implications for designing agentic systems for domain-specific visualization authoring. All supplemental materials are available at https://osf.io/uqe83.

cs.HC↗

arXiv2026

Designing Annotations in Visualization: Considerations from Visualization Practitioners and Educators

Annotation is a central mechanism in visualization design that enables people to communicate key insights. Prior research has provided essential accounts of the visual forms annotations take, but less attention has been paid to the decisions behind them. This paper examines how annotations are designed in practice and how educators reflect on those practices. We conducted a two-phase qualitative study: interviews with ten practitioners from diverse backgrounds revealed the heuristics they draw on when creating annotations, and interviews with seven visualization educators offered complementary perspectives situated within broader concerns of clarity, guidance, and viewer agency. These studies provide a systematic account of annotation design knowledge in professional settings, highlighting the considerations, trade-offs, and contextual judgments that shape the use of annotations. By making this tacit expertise explicit, our work complements prior form-focused studies, strengthens understanding of annotation as a design activity, and points to opportunities for improved tool and guideline support.

cs.HC↗

arXiv2025

HuBMAP Data Portal: a resource for multimodal spatial and single-cell data of healthy human tissues

The NIH Human BioMolecular Atlas Program (HuBMAP) Data Portal (https://portal.hubmapconsortium.org/) serves as a comprehensive repository for multimodal, multi-scale spatial and single-cell data from healthy human tissues. As of August 2026, the portal hosts 9,316 public datasets from 26 data types spanning 29 organ classes across 501 donors. Portal infrastructure and user interfaces support data search and discovery, visualization, and analysis directly in web browsers. These capabilities include metadata- and data-driven search, collaborative Workspaces with access to high-performance compute, and interactive Vitessce visualizations across non-spatial, 2D, and 3D spatial datasets. Data-type-specific uniform processing pipelines and rigorous quality control processes ensure comparability of results across laboratories, organs, and donors, while externally processed community-contributed datasets provide complementary perspectives. Here we describe portal functionality, infrastructure, and design, and highlight its role as a platform for large-scale spatial single-cell research across diverse data types, organs, and scales.

q-bio.QM↗

arXiv2025

YAC: Bridging Natural Language and Interactive Visual Exploration with Generative AI for Biomedical Data Discovery

Incorporating natural language input has the potential to improve the capabilities of biomedical data discovery interfaces. However, user interface elements and visualizations are still powerful tools for interacting with data. In our prototype system, YAC, Yet Another Chatbot, we integrate natural language and interactive visualizations. YAC uses a tool-calling multi-agent system to generate declarative output, which is interpreted to render linked interactive visualizations and apply data filters. We also include adjustment widgets, which allow users to directly modify the structured output. Structured text is also generated to clarify user intent, notify users of system boundaries, and explain aspects of the data with live data element links. We conducted a user study with domain experts to surface areas where YAC can be improved. Furthermore we reflect on the capabilities and design of this system with an analysis of its technical dimensions.

cs.HC↗

arXiv2025

VisPubs Games: Joyful Discovery of Visualization Research(ers)

Many sophisticated tools exist to help researchers find the academic literature they are searching for, but what about finding work that you aren't looking for? We promote joyful discovery of visualization research through two games (Colon and Authored) available to play now at https://games.vispubs.com. We believe these games provide several benefits to the visualization research community. First, the joyful discovery of visualization research and researchers occurs because these games randomly select authors and publications, thus exposing players to research areas they may not typically engage with. Second, these games were made by visualization researchers for visualization researchers; playing this game, sharing results with friends in person and online, has the potential to strengthen our academic community. Third, games centered around publication authors provide a passive way for academics to gain exposure within the community. Finally, we hope these games are simply fun to play. Try them now at games.vispubs.com.

cs.HC↗

arXiv2025

A Generative AI System for Biomedical Data Discovery with Grammar-Based Visualizations

We explore the potential for combining generative AI with grammar-based visualizations for biomedical data discovery. In our prototype, we use a multi-agent system to generate visualization specifications and apply filters. These visualizations are linked together, resulting in an interactive dashboard that is progressively constructed. Our system leverages the strengths of natural language while maintaining the utility of traditional user interfaces. Furthermore, we utilize generated interactive widgets enabling user adjustment. Finally, we demonstrate the potential utility of this system for biomedical data discovery with a case study.

cs.HC↗

arXiv2025

GQVis: A Dataset of Genomics Data Questions and Visualizations for Generative AI

Data visualization is a fundamental tool in genomics research, enabling the exploration, interpretation, and communication of complex genomic features. While machine learning models show promise for transforming data into insightful visualizations, current models lack the training foundation for domain-specific tasks. In an effort to provide a foundational resource for genomics-focused model training, we present a framework for generating a dataset that pairs abstract, low-level questions about genomics data with corresponding visualizations. Building on prior work with statistical plots, our approach adapts to the complexity of genomics data and the specialized representations used to depict them. We further incorporate multiple linked queries and visualizations, along with justifications for design choices, figure captions, and image alt-texts for each item in the dataset. We use genomics data retrieved from three distinct genomics data repositories (4DN, ENCODE, Chromoscope) to produce GQVis: a dataset consisting of 1.14 million single-query data points, 628k query pairs, and 589k query chains. The GQVis dataset and generation code are available at https://huggingface.co/datasets/HIDIVE/GQVis and https://github.com/hms-dbmi/GQVis-Generation.

q-bio.GN↗